, 1887-08-24
HOLLAND EooI-WEAR.
The Wooden Shoe and Its Staying Pow
ers-A Chautauqua Settlement.

The Wooden Shoe and Its Staying Pow
ers-A Chautauqua Settlement.
The Dutch wear heavy wooden shoes,
which render their gait laborious and I'M
graceful. A number of Dutch bellies of
the lower class drag these heavy wooden
shoes along with them. The children
seem TO be able to manage their wooden
shoes much easier than grown people.
When a dozen or more little urchins in
dulge in a romp in the street they set up
a chatter which can be heard for blocks.
The mother who wishes to find her
naughty child, who has left its task for
street play. does not at first use her eyes
in the search for the juvenile delinquent.
She quietly sticks one of her ears out of
the window, and when she hears a loud
chatter which suggests the tearing down
of houses IL the neighborhood she rushes
toward the sound, guided by her ears.
When, at length, breaking forth threat
enings and slaughter, she leads home her
shrieking offspring, the cries of the latter
are drowned by the music of his COM
panions' footballs.
The great advantage of the wooden
shoe is its staying powers. Every one
does not require n new pair of wooden
shoes in his or her lifetime. When the
iipiltnI NlllZtll 10 lillOI Lltu ny lHt DlOOLll-
ing daughter that she would like to have
a new pair of wooden shoes he frowns
and says, my child, what is the matter
with that pretty pair which your grand
mother received as her wedding gift?
They are still neat, although not gaudy.
You must remember that times are hard
and that family expenses must be kept
own h common people seem to
understand hour 10 live ,IoaDJu NJ,nr
of the laboring men earn but two
shillings a day, and yet manage to sup
port families, and lay up enough money
to give a decent burial to those members
of their families who find themselves I'M
able to keep up the task of trying to live.
In the town of Clymer, C%hautauqua
county, N. Y, is a large settlement of
Hollanders, the older members of which
brought from their fatherland the simple
amer and industrious habits which
have always been characteristic of that
race Nearly without exception they are
engaged in general farming and dairying.
and TO supplement their farm labors they
have introduced an industry which is
carried on in no other place in the Union.
That is the making of the wooden shoes
or clogs which are so common in Holland
and some other foreign countries. Dur
ing the coolest days and the long winter
evenings these Hollanders ply their knives
and ''shaves'' almost without cessation.
The business is really a monopoly, and of
late it has proved very profitable, the de-
mand for the clumsy shoes for decorative
purposes not only enhancing their value,
which the shrewd Dutchmen were quick
to see, but increasing the number called
for very materially. The woods used are
Eastwood and cucumber. Each shoe is
bored and cut from a single block. They
become so well seasoned that n pair made
in the best manner is almost indestruC-
tible. The bulk of these shoes is handled
by n dealer in Cory, Pa, and "A large
number are sent to the Philadelphia mar
ket. 1t also requires a great many to
supply the wants of the colony itself, as
the shoes are generally worn by both
sexes. There is something so odd about
wooden shoes that they are regarded rs
great curiosities, and are often found in
museum collections. Regular wooden
shoes modelled after the old Dutch pat
terms are kept for sale in many novelty
stores in cities, Boots and Shoes.